Skyfire Avenue

Mo Xiao chimed in. “What if you’re wrong? What is the planets have not yet begun to evolve and they appear on the battlefield? Isn’t that gambling with the lives of everyone here?”

Lan Qing looked at her, and she met his eyes without inhibition. She was here representing the interests of the Poseidon Group. Not Lan Qing nor even Hua Li’s hard gaze could silence her.

Lan Qing answered. “That’s a possibility, so our plans must include ways to avoid that eventuality as much as we can. First, we won’t be sending everyone in all at once. Middle Heaven and its entourage will comprise the main attack force. If everything goes as anticipated then our adversaries will be normal alien forces. I have faith that we will break their line and take at least one planet. We will use the recaptured world as a forward operating base to continue our push further in. Until that happens your people and the Northern soldiers don’t need to engage. Once we’re sure the alien home worlds won’t get involved we can move in with all of our strength.”

“Understand that there are a lot of risks in this campaign, but with risks come opportunity. These monsters all possess vital crystals, as I’m sure everyone knows. Even the simplest of them can be used for the exuvium process, and those taken from stronger foes can be used by our Paragons. The benefits are self-evident. The more we fight, the higher the possibility of obtaining those crystals. Whatever resources are captured belong exclusively to those who captured them. There are risks, but also rewards.”

Lan Qing continued to fix Mo Xiao with his sparkling eyes as he spoke. “But I will remind you that there will be backing out once the fight starts. We must be of one heart and one mind in order to have any hope of winning victory. I’m sure we’ve all considered the potency of the crystals possessed by the planets themselves. Should we win, the benefits to all of us would be marvelous. So, although each of you have agreed to follow my orders during the campaign, I must reaffirm that everyone follows strict adherence to whatever commands they receive. Selfishness on anyone’s part will undoubtedly lead to the destruction of us all.”

Mo Xiao’s eyes were cold. She arrogantly looked down her nose at him. “Admiral, we have graciously offered our family’s resources as support. Although we have agreed to participate, safety and continuity of our interests is our primary concern. We are a business, a family, not someone’s tool. Due to these considerations I cannot exclude the possibility that we will flee the battlefield if the situation becomes too dangerous. I have a responsibility to the family.”

Lan Qing answered her with a faint smile. “If the situation becomes unmanageable I of course would have no means of stopping you. However, until things deteriorate to that point I will require you to follow orders. If you are incapable of following this simple request than I’d rather not have you as allies. I wouldn’t want to have to retaliate for the transgression.”

Mo Xiao opened her mouth to speak, but Hua Li rose to his feet and cut her off. He glared at her before speaking to Lan Qing. “We have no problems. We will follow whatever orders we receive from Middle Heaven.”

Her teeth clicked as Mo Xiao resentfully closed her mouth. She said nothing further.

Lan Qing then turned his gaze to Kang Hui.

The Northern commander nodded. “We will cooperate. The benefits do not concern me. Now that we’re here I don’t expect many of us will be returning home. Whatever the final result of our efforts here, we will not have held back. I will obey your commands, in service to our species.”

His staunch and direct support was set in stark contrast to Mo Xiao’s attitude.

The Terminator nodded. “He echoes my sentiments. Admiral, please continue with your plan.”

Lan Qing obliged with a nod. He pressed a button on the control panel before him that dimmed the room’s lights and summoned a three-dimensional map of the star system between them. They could clearly pick out Europa and the seven planets that surrounded it.

“Our forces are limited, we can’t simply go all-in. Our first step is to recapture one of the planets and, using that as a foundation, see if we can’t confirm the condition of the alien home worlds. Once we do that, we move on to the next step…”

Lan Qing went on to explain their plan in detail. Kang Hui and Mo Xiao listened carefully and interjected their opinions where applicable.

Surprisingly they had little to offer. Lan Qing had been meticulous with the details, planning for every eventuality. He even had a plan for food and other resources if the fight took longer than expected.

In regards to firepower he chose a staggered approach, wherein every attack would be comprised of a different group of ships. They discussed the bastions as deterrent forces, specifics of unit employment, defenses – everything was gone over with a fine-tooth comb, no matter how seemingly trivial.

Even Mo Xiao, who had been suspicious and guarded with Lan Qing, couldn’t help her admiration from slowly showing on her face. He was certainly worthy of being the An LUn super soldier! He’d never commanded a large-scar battle, but it was clear he had spent a great deal of time and effort planning and reevaluating his decisions.

It took over four hours for the whole plan to be discussed. No time had been wasted in pointless nonsense or disagreement. Whenever they reached a new topic Lan Qing produced a packet of data which he handed out to the others, so that they might discuss it with their own staff officers later. This meeting was comprised of the top leadership, but specifics would needed to be passed down for commanders to enact orders.

“That’s the situation as it stands. Is there anything that anyone would like to add?” He reached the end of the briefing, and even after the long and exhaustive list of information he didn’t seem fatigued. He was as calm and collected as ever.

Kang Hui sighed, sincerity clear in his voice. “After everything you’ve told us I only have one thought. If the alien planets are not involved, our chances at victory are seventy percent or better. I doubt I could have formulated a better plan. Our decision to leave you in command seems to be the right one.”

Lan Qing did not gush over the praise. “This is a preliminary strategy. Things will change before we get under way once Lan Jue brings his information back. Right now we all have a general understanding of what’s going to happen. We will meet again when we know more.”